Interchangeable tooth.



T. STEELE.

INTBRGHANGEABLB TOOTH.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1912.

I Lama@ Patented Dec. 23, 1913.

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THOMAS STEELE, 0F COLUMBUS, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 THE COLUMBUS DENTAL MANU@ JEICTURING COMPANY, OF COLUMBUS, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

INTERCHANGEABLE TOOTH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 25, 1912.

Patented Dec. 23, jtttllih serial no. 733,302.

To all 1li/tom t may concern.'

Be it lrnoivn that LT1-rooms STEELE, a citi- ZenI of the United States, residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in interchangeable Teeth, of which the following is a specification;

rlhis invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the method einployed in producing interchangeable teeth and attaching1 the same.

@ne ot' the prime objects of my invention is the provision ol an artificial tooth constructed to'a strict interchangeable standard, which can be readily attached to or re` moved from the fbridge Without the requirement of special skill, and, if desired, Without the necessity of removing the bridge from the mouth of the patient, and in which, in cases of replacement orexchange of facings, the new facings when attached to the bridge will have their incisal edges, in all cases,v conforming exactly to the incisal alinement ol the teeth replaced regardless ci the length ofthe teeth, which can be varied to adapt then'L to the spaces provided for their reception and to compensate for the space which may intervene. between' the gingival` end of the tooth and the gum.

My invention directly and eihciently reine# dies detects in the art, by the provision of facing elements which may vary as to general form and conformation, but which are each provided with a gagging' vsurface invariably equidistant from the incisal edge of the facing. `The immediate result of this settled dimension occurring in each removable facing, is the assurance that the incisal edge ,of the facing Will invariably assume the same relation to the trimmed edge of the hacking had by the facing originally applied. Therefore, as the gum recedcs, the racines may be successfully,removed and replaced by other tacings and of larger gen'- eral dimensions. rflic second facing` applied may extend into closer contact with the gum at the gingriral end, but thc settled dimension between the gading surface and the incisal edge oi" th4 A.nui-ing `will cause the said incisal edge to peter with vthe trinnued edge of the hacking. '.lheretore, regardless or the r glh or the tooth tacings, the'substituted 'tatingirivill inevitably aline with the trimmed edge el? the .backing at its incisal edge. This,

suhstita facing will aline properly with the trimmed. edge of the backing.

Illustrations of my invention are show" in the accompanying' drawings, in Wh; similar characters of reference designate corresponding,r parts, and in which:

Figures l, 2 and are vertical sect-.ions taken centrally-of tooth facings successively varying in height, but which all have post sockets whose bases are equidistant l'roni the incisal edges of the facings; Fig. i is a projected View showing a rear elevation of the tooth facing element shown in Fig. 3, which elevation is identical in all olf these preferred forms of packing, and Fig. 5 is a transverse section oi the facing element. v

In the drawings, l represents the hed-v a. tooth in the rear grolnid surface of n .l form a longitudinal bore 2 extending` the gingival end ot the tooth to a point at a predetermined distance from the incisal edgije of the tooth, this distance being uniform in all teeth. This bore is accurately centered inthe tooth. back with relation to the sides thereof and said bore is in all cases parallel. with and at a uniform distance from the rear face 3 of the tooth front.

Ll is a slot connecting: the bore 2 .with the rear face 3, said slot beine,A centrai throughv out its length with reference to the bore and extending` from the `oingival end of the tooth to a point a short distance'abore the loafer end ol1 saidbore, hns resultingin the torniation of a shallowT pocket `or socket 5 at the end ot the bore.

lt will be understood that my improved tooth Will slide readily into position in connection with the bridge no matter when., where or by whom the bridge was' made. lt .may he that the, dentist may tind it necessary or desirable to grind the gingival end or neel: ot the tooth to malte it contorinto the patients gum, but that all he iscailed upon to do.

Although ll have shown in, Figs. l, Q a 3 of the drawings, three teeth ot ditterci lengths, it will be 'observed that in each oit tl fr said teeth the distance between the base of represented hv the lower end f th b the socket and the incisiil edge of the tooth, its definite predetermined dsitancei frirren Iltllxiii incisul edge.

is identically the same.

Because'of the fact that all teeth made by my method have exactly the same distance from the incisal edge to the lower end of the slot and bore irrespective of the length thereof, it is possible to make up a l v i i i bridge even before the teeth in the jaw have been extracted and adapt the tooth fronts on the bridge to fit the gums, at the time thev bridge is inserted, then when the gums have receded, as they do in all cases of extraction,

the bridge can be left in the mouth and the porcelain tooth front broken off and a new iront selected of the same color, character and expression, and of the same Width, but longer, and it will slide to position on the old bridge, going to a higher gosition on the gums, closing up the space t at nature has opened, and the incisal edge of the new porcelain tooth front will register alon the same line with the gold backing as di the original tooth front. This illustration em- `25 lphasizes the importance of a standard stop What I claim, is:

O 1. The herein described method of forming interchangeable tooth facings which consists in providing each facing with iin alin'mg gage for the securing device in- 'variablyequidistant from the incisul edge irrespective of the length over all of each facing.

2. The herein described method of forining interchangeable tooth fronts having a bore and slot, which consists in forming the bottom of the bore and slot, respectiiclv, in each tooth front the sume distance from the lincisal e lge,'irrespective of the length over THOMAS STEELE.

Witnesses'.

WALTER E. L. Boon, C. C. SHEPHERD.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for ve cents each, by uddi-elsing the (omminioner of Page,

Washington, D. C." 

